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Camden School District streamlines enrollment process

A new website simplifies the application process for parents looking to enroll their kids in a traditional public, charter, or renaissance school in Camden. (Image via camdenenrollment.org)

In response to a call from parents for an easier enrollment process, the Camden City School District is rolling out a single application for all of the city’s 38 traditional public, charter, and Renaissance schools.

“For a long time in Camden, we’ve had 17 unique applications with eight different monthly deadlines, each with its own unique criteria,” said Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard. “It’s just really complicated for parents to have to work their way through that maze.”

The district has set up a website where parents of public school students in grades K-12 can apply to new or different schools for their children.

The application is open until March 1 for the upcoming school year.

Rouhanifard said that when he took over the ailing school district two and a half years ago, one of the primary complaints from parents was that the enrollment process was complicated and burdensome.

“There was a parent who I talked to who worked for a long time to transfer her kid out of a traditional public school into a different traditional public school, and she said that she had to go inside of her child’s school building seven different times to consummate that process,” said Rouhanifard.

“That was happening on my watch, so we just gotta make that process easier.”

Parents who want to move their child to a different school or whose child is transitioning from one school to another — such as a middle-school graduate enrolling in high school — can use the application. Rouhanifard stressed that parents who are happy with their child’s school do not need to apply again.

The district will hold an enrollment fair on Jan. 30 at BB&T Pavilion for students transitioning to a new school or those interested in switching schools.